Why Scipio Stayed
by timetofly116
Summary: Scipio's fourteen again. An old friend of Scipio's is in trouble. Please read & review. Finished! Rated for very mild violence.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer-I do not own The Thief Lord. You all will be stinkin' old by the time I do.

Prologue

Scipio woke up and got out of bed. For some reason the ground looked closer than he remembered. And his clothes weren't fitting properly. _These clothes are brand new, for heaven's sake, _he thought. He ran to the mirror Victor used to adjust his disguises.

He saw a face in the mirror he hadn't seen for a long time. It was his face, of course, but it was the face he would have had if he'd never went on that merry-go-round a year before.

Then Scipio realized Victor was watching him from the door-way. He too looked lost for words.

Victor called Ida and told her that Scipio was a kid again, and Ida, Victor, Prosper, Hornet, Mosca and Riccio all told him how sorry they were. Only Bo was honest enough to tell him that he was glad to see his old face again.

Part of Scipio was glad he was fourteen again, too. Sure he'd have to hide from his father, and he didn't have all the privileges of an adult, but there was one person he missed from his old life.

Someone he shouldn't have left behind.


	2. Happy Birthday

_Please review! I really want to know what you all think._

Disclaimer-I do not own The Thief Lord. And I probably never will.

Chapter One: Happy Birthday

Victor was flipping through the newspaper pages, reading the same old thing over and over. "Look," he told Scipio sarcastically. "The Romano's are throwing another masquerade ball. This is what, the fifth time this month? But this time it's for their daughter's birthday. Every thirteen and fourteen year-old in the city is invited. Of course, you'd never go to another one ever, right, Thief Lord?"

Scipio pressed his lips together. Thief Lord. It was his nickname he'd given himself, and after all this time he still loved it, but Victor only used it when he was mocking him. "Actually," Scipio replied, ready to put on a good performance if necessary, "I would rather like to attend this one. No one will recognize me from beneath a mask, and I would enjoy laughing to myself the pigheadedness of upper class society."

Victor looked slightly suspicious of his motives, but he was a detective after all. Being suspicious was in his nature. But he shrugged it off and said, "Fine. But I would prefer that you got Hornet and Prosper to go with you."

Scipio figured he didn't have to ask Prosper and Hornet to go with him, as Victor was not his father, but Scipio decided he might as well. Victor and him were equals from his point of view; he was an adult once, and chances are he'll be one again.

The next day Scipio and Victor went to Ida's house, and Scipio saw Hornet and Prosper. He got them alone and asked them for the favor. They agreed, but they wanted to know what was the catch.

"What do you mean?" asked Scipio, trying to sound innocent.

"You told us you didn't ever want to go to a ball ever again," Hornet replied.

Scipio rattled off the reasons he gave Victor, but Prosper and Hornet weren't so easily fooled.

"Okay," Scipio finally gave in. "I want to revisit some people I used to know. That's it. I swear."

The answer seemed to please Scipio's friends. And they all sat down at Ida's table and ate dinner Lucia prepared for them.

A few hours before masquerade ball, Scipio looked over some of his old clothes. When he went back to his father's house to get his cat, it still hadn't donned on him that he was an adult. He stole some of his old clothes. Now he was glad he did. Some bumbling tailor had made it a few sizes too big, but now he had grown into it. It fit perfectly.

Prosper had a suit, too. It belonged to one of Victor's cousins, and once he outgrew it he gave it to Victor for no apparent reason. Hornet would wear a dress of Ida's. Ida had masquerade masks for them. Usually Scipio would wear his signature bird mask, but its nose was too long. A mask like that would attract attention.

Prosper and Scipio waited in the front room of Ida's house while Hornet got dressed. "Girls take forever," Scipio complained, and Prosper agreed.

Hornet came down the spiral staircase looking amazingly beautiful. She immediately caught Prosper's eye, and Scipio had a feeling he knew who Prosper would like to dance with. 

But Scipio didn't pay much attention to her, he had a different girl in mind. He summed up her face in his memory, black hair in unusual large corkscrew curls, twinkling blue eyes…

Ida marveled over Scipio, Prosper and Hornet as though they were her biological children. Then Prosper, Hornet and Scipio walked the short distance to the Romano de Plaza, a few streets away. Once inside Hornet and Prosper went away to dance, and Scipio glanced, feverously looking for one face.

He thought he saw her standing near the back of the room, but her hair was pinned up and her face was covered with a mask. The dress she wore was bright pink, a really ugly shade to, but if Scipio remembered correctly her mother forced her to wear some utterly horrid things before.

He started to make his way over to her to confirm his suspicions, but someone bumped into him. He looked away for a second, then when he turned his head back he was blinded by a girl throwing her arms around his neck.


	3. Catching Up

_Disclaimer-I do not own The Thief Lord. I do however; own all the characters that were not mentioned in the book by Cornelia Funke._

Chapter Two: Catching Up

Scipio had expected Maria to be angry with him, for abandoning her for a little over a year. He didn't expect she'd start laughing and hug him. "Gosh," she said. "I've missed you so much. Where have you been for all this time?"

"Around," Scipio answered vaguely.

"You mean you haven't left the city?" Maria exclaimed, surprised.

"Shhhhh, do you want everyone to know who I am? How did you know who I was anyway?"

"I've known you for ten years. Of course I recognized you, with or without the mask. So you didn't leave the city? Dottore Massimo had almost every detective in the city after you!" Maria whispered. She started to pull the pins from her hair. Her cork-screw curls gracefully dropped back down on to her shoulders.

"I didn't worry much about them," Scipio said, which was true. Who would think he was a teenage boy in an adult's body?

A new song came on over the speakers. "Want to dance?" Scipio asked Maria.

"I suppose it's the least you could do, since you missed my last birthday."

Later Scipio and Maria were talking again. It was getting late, but Scipio wasn't a stranger to being awake at night.

"What's up with you lately?" Scipio asked.

"Nothing much. Just the same miserable things that happen all the time," Maria answered sadly. She rolled up her dress sleeve, exposing a long, purple bruise.

"Did she hit you?" Scipio asked, worried.

"If by 'she' you mean my mother, than no. She couldn't care less whether I ended up as a messed up kid or not. Carlo gave me this," Maria said, her voice hardly above a whisper. " I was caught talking to the maids again."

Scipio wasn't sure what to say. He didn't remember Carlo much, Maria's brother had been at a boarding school in England must of the time. But he did want Maria to do one thing.

"Why don't you run away? I know some people who will take you in."

"Scipio, you know I can't do that. Arianna is only three. I can't leave her alone to be the subject of Carlo's rage, and I couldn't take her away from our home, can I? Where we are positive we'll be okay everyday, and never having to worry about getting caught."

Scipio noticed she said 'we'. Her words hurt slightly, but he remembered Prosper and Bo, who refused to be separated. He couldn't relate, being an only child.

"Here, take this," Scipio said, pushing a piece of folded paper into her hand.

"What's this?"

"It's an address. In case you ever need some help."

"Thank-you. But I don't think I'll change my mind."

"You never know."

Scipio walked over to where Prosper was. Maria had to leave her own party around midnight, because her controlling brother thought she should be asleep.

Prosper was leaning against a wall, looking angrily at Hornet, who was talking to another boy, who was a few years older and presumably better looking than him. Scipio realized what Hornet was doing from his own experience with girls in the past. She was trying to make him jealous!

It certainly was working. Poor Prosper, he didn't know Hornet was testing him. But that wasn't what Scipio had on his mind.

"Ida and Victor are going to freak out," Prosper mumbled, and it took Scipio a second to realize that he was talking to him. "We were supposed to be back at Ida's nearly an hour ago."

Scipio had forgotten they were supposed to be back by eleven thirty, since neither Ida nor Victor wanted to stay up until they got back. It was more targeted toward Hornet and Prosper, since Scipio was not Victor's son but, in truth of the matter, only his employee.

"We should better get back, then. Go fetch Hornet and we'll leave." Prosper was about to say something, but then Scipio realized what he was thinking. "Fine," he said. "I'll get her."

He did, and they all walked back home, hardly saying a word to each other. They braced themselves to be yelled at, but when they used the spare key under the place mat to get in, they saw that they were safe for the time being.

Thought the lights were left on and cards from a card game were spread out across the table, Ida was asleep on the couch. Victor had dozed off on the chair next to it, and Bo was peacefully sleeping on the floor between the two of them.


	4. Change of Plans

_Disclaimer- I do not own the Thief Lord._

_Please review! I would really like a few more. The more reviews I get, the more I'll write, and the faster I'll get any new chapters up._

_Also, I have a project to do for school, and my class is going to send result to Africa to give to refugees. So this chapter is dedicated to all the refugees in Africa._

Chapter Three: Change of Plans

Maria was eating dinner. It was late because Carlo had gone into a fit of rage and fired the cook, along with all the other kitchen staff. Maria felt bad for them, but there was nothing she could do. It was eight o'clock, and the stew Carlo had attempted to cook didn't look very appealing. Her parents were traveling again, and were currently somewhere in Argentina.

Arianna and Carlo were in the kitchen cleaning up the mess in there. Maria heard a crack of a dish and her brother yelling. Arianna ran out of the kitchen and grabbed Maria leg. Tears were streaming down her face in two tiny rivers. On her cheek was a mark shaped like a palm of a hand. Carlo was cursing loudly, and he was cleaning up the fragments of the broken dish.

Maria was horrified. He had never hurt Arianna before, never. She was a little kid! Maria picked her little sister up in her arms, swiped a good sum of money off the counter, ran outside, and went to a little book store not far away. Carlo wouldn't realize that they had gone for at least an hour, long enough for her and Arianna to vanish. Maria wasn't going to go back. She had been beaten a million times, but little Arianna was too delicate.

Arianna dried her tears on Maria's skirt. "Pick out any book you want, I'll buy it for you," she said.

Maria pulled the note that Scipio gave her out of her pocket. She kept it in case of emergencies. She knew where that house was. It was on the other side of town, too far for Arianna to walk. That meant Maria was going to have to carry her all the way there. With a sigh, Maria rushed back over to Arianna, who was holding a book she had never heard of.

"I want this one," she said, her tiny hands gripping the book firmly.

"Do you even know what it's about?"

"No, but it has pretty pictures."

You can never reason with a three year old. Maria bought the book, and they walked out of the store. Maria had never been allowed to wonder the streets alone before, with her too controlling brother trying to keep her from doing something he wouldn't approve of. She had escaped without Carlo knowing a few times, with Scipio, but she couldn't ever remember seeing the Casa Spavento before.

Well after ten o'clock her arms were almost going to fall off from the weight of her sister, who had fallen asleep. She found the house she was looking for. She saw all the lights were off, and hesitated before knocking on the door. She didn't know what she'd say to the owner, but she looked at her sister and knew she should get her somewhere to sleep, soon.

Her heart beat wildly, and she knocked softly on the door. A light in the house flicked on, and the door swung open. A little angel haired boy stood there. He looked about six or seven. "Who are you?" he asked.

A woman ran to the door, a cigarette in her hand. She was wearing a two large sweater. "Come in," she said.

"I know it's late-" Maria started. The woman told her to come inside from the cold, and Arianna woke up momentarily, but fall back to sleep. A boy with brown hair showed up in the doorway. A girl sat down next to the woman on the sofa. Maria told the people her story, and then asked for a place to stay.

"Of course you can stay. My name is Ida," said the woman. "And this is Hornet," she motioned to the girl, "That's Prosper," she motioned to the boy in the doorway, "and he's Bo. Now Hornet, can you show Maria to her room."

Hornet smiled sweetly at her, and Bo and Prosper went to bed. "Take your sister," Hornet said. "All of us here are runaways, there used to be six of us, but Scipio got a job and Riccio and Mosca didn't like having someone telling them what to do."

They walked up a staircase, and Maria stepped into a room that wasn't nearly as big as her own one, but Maria immediately loved it. It had a bit of dust in the corners, and there was a few papers scattered across the dresser, but something about it made it feel more like a home than her old room.

"I'll get you a night dress," Hornet said. "You look about my size, except you're a little taller." She came back with a nice white night dress. "Good-night," and went to bed.

Maria put Arianna down on the bed, locked the door, and changed her clothes. Then she lay in bed with her sister and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning Maria woke up happy. She didn't know where she was for a moment, or why Arianna had woken her up. But realization flooded back to her just in time for her little sister's next question, "Where are we?"

"We're going to be staying with some very nice people," Maria told her.

"Are we going back to Carlo soon?"

"Do you want to go back to Carlo?"

"No way. He's mean!"

Maria smiled. At least her sister didn't have any problems with the new living arrangement.

They went down the stairs together, and Ida was up already, talking to a fat lady Maria didn't know. "Good morning, girls, this is the housekeeper, Lucia."

"Nice to meet you, Lucia," Maria greeted. "My name is Maria and this is Arianna."

Lucia grumbled something about to many kids around. Prosper and Hornet were at the breakfast table, and Maria talked to them for a while. She liked them, they were friendly enough, and she didn't feel entirely awkward as she expected.

That all changed when Victor showed up with news of his new case.

**I hope you like this chapter! Please review! Maybe I could get two more. Two reviews per chapter is all I really want. Tell me if my writing needs work, is good, or even go into a long speech about how my writing is so bad I should wear a bag over my head and vow never to touch a key board again in my life.**


	5. New Information

_This is going to be a short chapter. You didn't expect me to just have Scipio change back into a fourteen year old and that's that, did you?_

_Disclaimer- I do not own The Thief Lord._

Chapter Four: New information

Renzo sat by a fire place, desperately trying to get the wood shards back together, and it felt like fitting a square into a circle.

All this started a few weeks earlier. Renzo had been studying the history of the merry-go-round. It had become like an obsession. He had finally discovered the name of the man in the stories, Ferdinando Vespucci, and went to his house. It was abandoned, ironically only a few islands over from the island that the merry-go-round sat on for so many years.

There wasn't much information about the merry-go-round to be found. But something had made Renzo's heart beat heavily. He was afraid. He was going to lose his new youth. For a diary entry of Mr. Vespucci stated:

_I am planning to give the merry-go-round to the orphanage of the merciful sisters. Some of those children would be able to put it to good use. Though I wonder if I should warn them that the magic only works for about a year, so annually if they would like to stay whatever age they changed to they need to take another trip on it._

So Renzo turned back into an old man, Morosina into an old woman, and, presumably, Scipio into a teenager. Now Renzo was trying to fix the wing. Piece by piece, sliver by sliver….

Suddenly he jumped up and exclaimed, "I've done it!"

"What are you blabbing about?" Morosina asked from the chair on the other side of the fire place. She didn't walk much anymore. Her joints ached a lot.

"The wing! It's fixed!"

"Try it out before you get your hopes up."

So Renzo did. And he vowed that if it worked he would find Scipio again, and give him the chance to ride on the merry-go-round again. That is, assuming he still wanted to be an adult.

So Renzo attached the wing on the lion, exactly how it had been before. And an hour later both he and his sister were younger than ten years old.

**Hope you like this chapter! I'm dedicating the next chapter to whoever reviews this one. Warning: this isn't going to count for every chapter. So please review!**


	6. A New Client

_Disclaimer- I do not own The Thief Lord, but I own the characters that were not in the book._

_Dedicated to:_

_InkySubstance _

_And_

_Crazy About HarryPotter_

Chapter Five: A New Client

Scipio was surprised to see who walked in to Victor's office. He hadn't heard that Maria ran away, yet, because the phones were down, and he hadn't been to Ida's in three days. He also hadn't read the newspaper, which had her picture on the front page.

He recognized Carlo when he looked out the window, and left Victor's office, afraid that Carlo would remember him. He tried to listen to Carlo and Victor's conversation, but the door was too thick. So he waited impatiently for Carlo to leave. When he did, Scipio hurriedly opened the door and asked Victor what that was about.

"He asked me to find his younger sisters. I'm almost sorry I told him no, though, he was willing to pay me a large amount of money. But I told myself I wouldn't track down children ever again after everything that happened with Bo and Prosper."

"Good idea," Scipio agreed hastily, remembering that he had given Maria Ida's address. Was she there now? Scipio remembered that he and Victor were going to have dinner at Ida's that night.

When it was time for dinner, Scipio and Victor walked to Ida's. Hornet was helping Lucia with bags of food from the market. "Buongiorno!" she called. She put the last of the bags in the house. "Scipio, Victor! There's someone I'd like you to meet. Come in."

At the table, Maria was sitting next to Prosper. "Scipio!" she said, excitedly. She got up, hugged him quickly, and Hornet said, "She told us she knew you."

Ida, Victor, Bo, Hornet, Arianna, Maria and Scipio all sat down at the table. The doorbell rang and Ida went up to get it. It was Riccio and Mosca, and Mosca's girlfriend, Jeanette. Jeanette was from France, she was very pretty, and her face, her eyes, her hair and her skin was all black. She enjoyed brightly colored clothing though; it seemed to reflect her personality. She was a naturally cheerful person. Only Riccio didn't like her. He thought Mosca spent too much time with her.

Lucia served them all Italian sausages for dinner and for dessert there was little cakes filled with cream. It was delicious. Riccio, Hornet, Mosca, Prosper, Jeanette, Bo, Victor and even Ida went out to play catch. Little Arianna watched, although she didn't even know what everyone was doing, but the running around was making her excited.

Only Scipio and Maria stayed behind. They instead went for a walk through Venice. It was getting dark and not many people were out. They sat by the canal. Maria told him everything that happened since she had last seen him. She cried on his shoulder, and he stroked her hair. "Everything is going to be alright," he told her gently.

"I know," Maria said. "I haven't cried since I ran away. It's hard remembering. I was so scared until I got to Ida's house, I kept thinking Carlo was going to catch me and beat me, and I won't be able to protect Arianna."

Scipio hugged his friend. Maria and Arianna's relationship reminded him so much of Prosper ad Bo's. All Maria ever did nowadays was for her sister, and Scipio was suddenly glad for the first time in his life that he was an only child. His old life wasn't a good one, but his 

father never hit him, although he was sure his friends thought he had. In fact, Scipio's father never laid a hand on him. But he had never loved him, either. His mother was always traveling, and Scipio liked to imagine that she loved him at least a little, although not enough to cancel any of her trips for him.

Maria's parents liked to travel, too, but they always took her with them. They didn't love her, either, nor did her brother.

Maria stopped crying, and for a while after that she and Scipio just sat there, side by side.

A week later, Carlo came back again. This time he offered more money, and Scipio didn't leave the room. He just hid under Victor's desk.

"I really want to see my baby sisters again. I miss them so much," he said.

"I don't find missing children," was Victor's reply.

"My poor, darling sisters could have been kidnapped, or fallen into a canal, and you can't find the goodness in your heart to help me out?"

"Nope." Victor knew where Carlo's sisters were. And he was quite certain that they didn't want to go back to their brother.

Carlo stormed out of the room. Scipio crawled out from under the desk. "I hope he doesn't come back."

"Me too."

Scipio opened the door connecting Victor's office to his apartment, and Scipio's cat ran between his legs. She got up on the chair by the window. "Bella, what are you doing?" Scipio asked her, not expecting a reply, of course.

"Get that thing out of here," Victor scowled. He didn't like Bella much. He was firmly convinced that Bella was going to try to eat his tortoises, although Scipio assured him Bella wouldn't do that. And it didn't help she was expecting kittens again. Victor said there was no way he'd tolerate a whole bunch of 'little Bellas,' for very long.

Scipio picked up his cat, and happened to glance out the window. A woman was almost to the steps. He didn't recognize her. She had a shock of fiery red hair, and green eyes. Scipio didn't think she would know who he was, so he didn't have to hide when she came into Victor's office.

The woman scrutinized him, although Scipio didn't know why. She told Victor she needed help finding her lost dog. She handed over a picture, and she and Victor agreed on his fee. She looked about twenty-five, but there was something about her that caught Scipio's attention. Her voice, it sounded familiar. He couldn't place it, but he had heard something like it before. The woman's clothes looked average, but Scipio noticed her shoes were an expensive kind, and her blue jeans looked like a designer brand.

The woman thanked Victor, and started toward the door. Scipio noticed her glance at him again. Then she left.

"What was that lady's name?" Scipio asked.

"Carmela Ricci. Why?"

"Just curious."

Scipio had never heard her name either. "Victor, I think that Ms. Ricci has more money than she appears to."

"So? You think I could her have charged her more?" Victor sat down on a chair and picked up the newspaper that he hadn't yet read. Maria's picture stared at him from the front page. "Your friend's brother is trying pretty hard to find her," Victor remarked. "I wonder why."

Scipio knew why, but his information wouldn't mean anything to Victor. And he was too deep in thought to care.

Maybe, just maybe, he had seen Carmela Ricci before….


	7. Scipio's Choice

_Disclaimer-I do not own The Thief Lord._

Chapter Six: Return of the Merry Go Round

"Darn," Victor whispered under his breath.

"What is it?" Scipio asked him, walking over to his side. In Victor's hands he held the bills. On top was the one for rent.

"We forgot to pay our rent for the last couple of months. Our landlord is threatening to throw us out if we don't pay all the money back."

"Then pay him."

"We don't have the money."

"What are we going to do, then?"

Victor sighed. "I don't know," he said finally. "I just don't know."

Scipio heard a knock on the door. He peeked out the peek hole, but whoever was out there was too short. He tried the window and spotted a familiar figure. Two familiar figures, actually.

He opened the door. "Renzo, Morosina, good to see you again. Come in."

"So what brings you here?" Victor asked once they were seated.

"Well, actually," Renzo started, "I've come to tell you I've fixed the merry-go-round. I've come to ask Scipio if he would like to ride it again."

Scipio, surprised, almost said 'yes'. But that's what he would have said before. He had a lot to gain, but what would he have to give up? Maria's face popped into his mind, but Scipio shoed it away. "I'll have to think about it," he said. "How long will you be in town?"

"We'll stay two days on Isola Segretta. After that we'll leave."

Two days. That's all the time he had. The first time he made that decision he had been desperate. Now it was a matter of what he really wanted. What should he do?

Renzo and his sister soon left. Scipio was still thinking. _I should ask Prosper for help, _he decided. He walked to Ida's, and asked Ida where he was. "In the back yard with Maria," she replied.

Meanwhile, Maria was sitting next to Prosper in the grass. They had grown to be friends the last couple of days. Somehow their conversation had turned into a sad one.

"My dad left my family when Bo was only a few weeks old. I've told anyone that ever asked that he died, even Bo. But it's mostly the truth, anyway, since he died a few years ago in a car accident."

Maria didn't know what to tell him. Prosper went on, "And then my mom got cancer. It lasted a long time. Mom didn't want to leave us. She didn't make a will, though, because she thought it would be depressing."

Prosper looked sorrowful. She grasped his hand to comfort him.

Scipio came out the back door and saw Maria in the grass. He was about to call out to her, but then he saw she was sitting next to Prosper. He could see they were holding hands. Scipio got angry, though he didn't know why. Was it possible Maria liked Prosper more than him?

Scipio left. And he knew what he was going to tell Renzo.

Scipio told Victor his decision. Then he sailed out to Isola Segretta in an old boat he had bought. It was barely watertight. But Scipio started off anyway.

Prosper came to Victor's that day, roughly twenty minutes after Scipio left. "Where's Scipio," he asked.

"He went to Isola Segretta to ride the merry-go-round again," Victor replied.

Prosper was surprised. But he also didn't want Scipio to become and adult again. Scipio was his friend. He should at least try to talk Scipio out of his decision. Make sure he was making the right choice. If the merry-go-round breaks (again), Renzo might not be able to fix it.

He ran to Ida's boat which was docked by the deck. Coincidently Maria was sitting on the deck, scribbling in her notebook. She was drawing, most likely. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm sailing out to Isola Segretta."

"Why would you want to do that? Isn't Isola Segretta haunted?"

Prosper realized almost too late that Maria didn't know about the merry-go-round. "Can't explain," he said, remembering the promise he made to Renzo. "Tell Ida I won't be back for dinner."

He got onto the boat. "Wait," Maria said. "Can I come with you?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Fine," Maria said to make him think that she agreed with him. But when Prosper turned on the boat she climbed into the back and hid beneath a blanket.

Prosper drove the boat almost all the way across the lagoon without seeing any sign of Scipio's little row boat. Did that mean he was already on the island? Probably. Prosper switched of the engine, remembering that Renzo and Morosina didn't like visitors. Would they recognize him?

He walked to the back of the boat. There were oars somewhere. He spotted the end of one and lifted the blanket that was on top of them. "Hello," he said, when he saw the dark haired girl beneath it.

Maria gave him a big, phony smile and said, "Hi."

"Didn't I tell you to go back to Ida's?"

"You're not the boss of me. Plus I'm almost a year older then you."

Prosper didn't want to go all the way back to the city, because then he might show up too late. "Your helping me row."

"Fine."

Prosper was right. Scipio was already on the island. Morosina and him were making their way toward the house, where Renzo was. Morosina's mastiffs were eyeing him suspiciously. Scipio couldn't bring himself to trust them. _If their going to eat me, _ he thought. _Why don't they just do it now and get it over with? There staring is going to drive me mad._

"I see you decided to except my offer," Renzo said when Scipio came to the door. "Although I don't know why anyone would like to be an adult."

"It's odd, isn't it? You lived a miserable childhood and you want to be a child again, and yet I lived a miserable childhood and I want to be an adult."

"Yes, it is. Now come with me. The merry-go-round is this way."


	8. Change of Heart

_Disclaimer- You know what goes here._

_Sorry it's been taking me so long to update. I've been on vacation, meaning no computer. I'm on summer vacation now, so I'll have more time to write. Go summer!_

Change of Heart

Scipio saw the merry-go-round, and for reasons he couldn't explain, he dreaded seeing it again. _Isn't this what you want? _He asked himself. _And besides, you've done it before._

The merry-go-round was perfect. Unless you looked closely you couldn't see that the lion's wing was ever broken. With a heavy heart, Scipio mounted the sea horse.

Meanwhile Prosper and Maria got to the island. Maria was still slightly confused, although Prosper told her the most important details. No wonder Scipio had managed to hide from his father. He had been grown up.

Maria didn't have much trouble believing Prosper. She had already heard the story of the merry-go-round. Plus, when Scipio still lived with his father, she knew he wanted to be an adult. He would always say things like, "When I'm an adult my father won't be able to boss me around," and "I wish I was grown up so people would stop treating me like a baby."

The mastiffs were barking at Prosper and Maria. _Thank God their tied up, _Maria thought. Normally, she loved dogs. But she could too easily imagine the mastiffs swallowing Prosper and her whole.

Her heart almost broke in half when she saw Scipio's rickety, old boat. He'd beat them there. Hopefully it wasn't too late.

Renzo heard the dogs barking. "Sounds like we have a visitor," he said. "I'll send them off and then start up the merry-go-round. The dogs should scare them away pretty quickly."

Scipio climbed off the sea horse, and for a moment Renzo thought he had changed his mind. But he just sat on the edge of the merry-go-round's platform.

He walked around to the front. The dogs kept barking. _Darn it,_ he thought. There was nothing more annoying than determined visitors.

Renzo saw two shapes making their way towards the house, making a wide circle around the dogs. As he got closer he recognized the boy. It was the same boy that Scipio had come with last time. He didn't know the girl, though.

"Hello," Renzo greeted them. "For what do I have the pleasure of your visit?"

"We want to talk to Scipio," Prosper said.

"Yes, Scipio's about to ride on the merry-go-round."

Prosper and the girl let out a sigh of relief. There was still a chance to convince him not to ride. All three of them went around to the back. "My name is Maria," the girl said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

The merry-go-round came into view. "Scipio!" Maria exclaimed.

Scipio looked up. "If you're trying to convince me not to ride, you better not get your hopes up."

"Scipio, please just listen to what I have to say." Maria sat next to him on the platform. "You can choose to do whatever you want, but just make sure it's what you really want."

"Maria, you know I've always wanted to be an adult."

"Is that what you want now?"

Scipio didn't answer her. "Do you want me to be grown up?"

"You can't let my feelings influence you. But, no, I don't want you to grow up. You are my best friend. I've gotten used to your face. I don't want you to grow up without me." Scipio noticed she touched the locket around her neck when she said this. He had given her that for her seventh birthday. Gosh, they had been friends forever. Inside the locket was a picture of their seven year-old selves standing side by side, making bunny ears on each other. Did he really want all that to end?

"You could ride the merry-go-round too."

"Scipio, you know I couldn't do that. What about Arianna? I'm sorry."

Scipio was silent for a moment. "You know what? Now that I'm actually thinking about it, I don't think I want to be an adult either. Isn't that weird? I've already been an adult, and I'll be one again soon enough, merry-go-round or no merry-go-round. So why not enjoy my last few years of childhood?"

Maria leaned her head against Scipio's shoulder. "That sounds pretty good to me."

A man was sitting on a bench, not far from the dock. He had just managed to get himself fired, and he was planning to beg his boss for mercy the next day, which his boss was unlikely to give. He didn't feel like going back to his wife. He didn't feel like her screaming at him that they were going to lose the house, or she was going to leave him. So he was just going sit on that bench, after midnight, eating a turkey sandwich.

Just then, something caught his eye. A boat was coming in. It was a little, personal boat, not the kind that would carry supplies to the city that sometimes came in late. _Why _

_would anyone want to be out at this hour? _He thought. It was stinking cold outside. But then again, he was outside, so he couldn't be too judgmental.

But then he saw three figures emerge from the boat. There was no way the people were adults. Runaways from across the lagoon? Possibly.

The man moved closer. The moon was bright enough for him to see the children good enough. The kids couldn't see him from where he was hiding. One of the boys had raven-black hair, and so did the girl. The other boy was perhaps a year younger than the others, though it was hard to tell in the dark.

All of a sudden the man recognized the girl. It was Maria Romano. She already had a good reward on her head for her return. Her brother had told the public that he was sure she had been kidnapped. _Where is her sister? _The man thought. He had known both girls personally, though the older one hadn't particularly liked him. The younger did, though. And both of the boys were familiar to him, too, but he couldn't place their names. He probably saw them in the newspaper and fliers. The man wondered if the boys had bounties on their heads like Maria did.

The man started following them. The children were being careless. They went straight to an apartment. The sign next to the door said it was the detective office of Victor Getz and Scipio Fortunato. What did the kids have anything to do with a detective?

The man knew how he was going to get his job back.


	9. Trapped

_Disclaimer- I do not own The Thief Lord._

_Warning: There is violence in this chapter. It might be T rated. _

_I'm not sure how many chapters are left. I'm guessing three, but at least one more after this. I probably won't start another story for a while. I need a break. Check my profile for my next story idea._

Trapped

Maria and Prosper stayed at Victor's the night they got home from Isola Segretta. Victor was a little ticked that they ran off without telling anyone, but they figured that Ida would be even madder. Plus it was nearly one in the morning, which was too late (or early) to get yelled at.

That morning they did go back to Ida's. To their surprise Ida didn't yell, she just hugged them and cried a lot. Also she told them never to do that again. Prosper and Maria almost wished she _was_ yelling.

But Hornet was the one that really freaked out. "I was so worried about you!" she said to Prosper. "Where have you been?" She did the same with Maria, except with less enthusiasm. Maria smiled. How could Prosper not realize that Hornet liked him? Like, really liked him? Of course, Prosper liked her too, obviously, although no matter how much Maria prodded him he wouldn't admit it. It was like a mini soap opera.

One of Bo's kittens played with one of the shoe laces on Scipio's shoes. He picked it up and stroked its fur. He always did have a soft spot for cats.

Hornet was in the kitchen when there was a knock on the door. She looked out the window. She almost cried. She was about to call out to the others, but Ida had already opened the door.

"We have reason to believe two runaways are here, Scipio Massimo and Maria Romano. As a matter of fact, I see them behind you," a tall officer said.

Scipio and Maria, who were making their way out of the room, stopped dead. The officer went on, "I also have a warrant here to take the runaways, should they be here. And, if I happened to find Arianna Romano I should take her, too."

"Never!" Maria yelled at him. She was about to say more, but Scipio silenced her.

"We'll go with you, but only if you clear Ida Spavento of any charges regarding her housing runaways and whatnot," Scipio said.

"Deal." The officer looked relieved. He obviously didn't think it would be that easy.

"Scipio, what are you thinking?" Maria whispered in Scipio's ear.

"I'm thinking, if Ida goes to jail because of us, I'd feel really guilty."

"Okay."

And Maria and Scipio went with the officers. Both of them died a little when they saw Ida's house disappear in the distance. They didn't know if they'd ever be back there again. One part of Scipio's mind wished he had become an adult. The other was sad that he was going back home. _Not my home, _he thought. His home was with Victor and Ida and all his friends, and it always would be. Scipio lied and told the police that they had left Arianna at an orphanage outside the city. At least Arianna was safe with the people who loved her. Except, of course, Maria, who was sitting in a cop car, holding Scipio's hand.

Three days later, Scipio was back with his father. Once they were alone, Dottore Massimo yelled at him, and Scipio thought he'd actually hit him. But he didn't. He suspected 

his father was only mad because of all the bad publicity Scipio had caused, not because he had been worried.

If Scipio thought life was hard before he ran away, it was a million times harder now. He had bars on his window. Bars! And, not only was his door being locked at night, but there was a _video camera _installed on the outside of his door so if he managed to pick the lock he'd be videotaped. Then an alarm would go off and someone would bring him back to his room and scold him like a naughty little boy.

He was trapped in his own house. Completely and totally trapped.

And, of course, he wasn't allowed to see Maria. He wasn't sure if it was because his father thought she was a bad influence, or Carlo thought he was a bad influence, or a combination of the two. No matter what, it still really sucked. And the adults were going to extreme measures to make sure they didn't even see each other. When they both had to go to the same party, Carlo and Dottore Massimo made sure that one would arrive first, stay for half the party, and leave a few minutes before the other one showed up.

Maria wasn't doing so well, either. As it turned out it was her father's assistant who had found her and fallowed her. She had never liked him. _We should have been more careful, _she thought.

She had another bed put in her room. For her _nanny_. And her door was locked from the outside. What was she, some kind of prisoner? She didn't have bars on her window, though, not that it made a difference. She was twenty feet up. There was no place she could climb down.

And, as if to add to all her troubles, Carlo beat her. He beat her far worse than he ever had. On the shoulders, on her legs and on her back. She had trained herself not to cry when she was hurt, but she was having a hard time keeping her tears back. When she couldn't take much more of it, she hit him back. Right in the nose. She hoped it was broken. Shattered into a million darn pieces and he was going to have a flat lumpy nose for the rest of his life.

Carlo jumped back in surprise, giving her a chance to run. Run where? The thought hadn't even occurred to her that there was nowhere she could go, with every door to the outside locked.

Carlo caught up to her before she made it ten yards. He had a wooden walking stick in his hand and he hit her once in the back with it so hard she fell over. Then he left her, lying on the floor. She didn't get up. But all her pain melted away and a smile formed on her lips. She had finally hit him. After all those years, she finally hit him back. And it felt so darn good. She cried at last, only because she was so happy. Next time she'd hit him, too. She'd scream. She'd kick and make him sorry he ever touched her. Next time she'd be the one with the walking stick.

Eventually, one of the maids, her friend, Lena, begged her to get up. "It's worrying watching you just lay on the floor like that."

And Maria got up and walked to her room. The smile never left her lips.

Hornet was a mess. _You're supposed to be clever and smart. You read all those books, after all, _she thought to herself. _You should be able to think of a plan to help Scipio and Maria run away again. Think._

Hornet had been by Scipio's house and saw those bars on his window. So she'd have to think of something that probably didn't include a window escape. She had seen that guard dogs staked around Maria's house. Darn, this was going to be hard.

It would help if she had a little help from someone on the inside. Preferably Scipio and Maria themselves. Think. She couldn't just walk up to their houses and ask what would be the best way to help them runaway.

Maybe Scipio and Maria could help her. Hornet needed paper and a pencil. She needed to talk to Ida. She needed and animal trainer, one that specialized in birds.

Maybe she was crazy. And maybe she wasn't.


	10. Hornet's Plan

_Disclaimer- I do not own The Thief Lord._

_Thanks to all you that reviewed (any chapter). You rock!_

Hornet's Plan

Hornet's plan was simple. She remembered how the Counte had them contact him the first time. They used a carrier pigeon. And, as it turned out Ida knew a man who trained carrier pigeon's just outside the city. Ida went to visit him.

Once they got the pigeon trained to come back to Ida's house, (which took about a week, which was decent. Scipio might be able to pick up what they were doing, and get the note. Maria, and the other hand, might not. They'd just have to pray it worked.

Hornet set the pigeon loose beneath Maria's window. It was seven in the morning. Hopefully Maria would be there.

Up in her room Maria was laying on her bed. Her nanny had left the room to take a shower and do her hair and whatever else nannies do. She stared at the ceiling.

_Tap, tap, tap, _went a noise at the window. Maria glanced over and saw a pigeon. She ignored it, but it kept tapping. It was enough to drive someone mad.

She got up and walked over to the window to scare it away. _Tap, tap, tap,_ it went. Maria came to the window and saw it had a piece of paper stuck to its leg. Maybe it was trash. But it had a legging holding it on. That's what carrier pigeon's wore when they were carrying notes. Intrigued, she opened the window and grabbed the pigeon. She pulled the little paper from his leg. She recognized the handwriting. It was Hornet's. In little tiny letters Hornet had wrote:

I want to help you escape, (again). Tell me all the

important details that would affect your rescue.

(locks, guard dogs, and so on)

Your friend,

Hornet

Maria flipped the paper over. She grabbed a pencil and wrote:

I have my nanny staying in my room.

She takes sleeping pills at night though,

so she's out cold. Also, my doors locked,

and there are guard dogs outside but they get

drowsy after they eat big meals.

Your friend,

Maria

Maria put the note back onto the pigeon's leg. It flew away.

Hornet was reading over Maria and Scipio's notes. Scipio said the bars on his window weren't on tight, but he couldn't reach the screws holding them up.

Interesting.

It was two in the morning. Prosper, Hornet, Mosca and Riccio were ready to help Scipio and Maria escape. Bo wanted to come too, but they wouldn't let him. Ida promised not to let him run away.

They went to Scipio's house first. They had a latter to get up to his window. Mosca brought some tools, and, trying to make the least amount of noise possible, he unscrewed the screws on the bars.

Scipio was awake by the time that the bars were off. He didn't know when they were coming. He pulled his hair back into its usual ponytail. He climbed down the latter and the five people went to the Romano's house. On his bed there was a note that Scipio wrote to his father.

Riccio had a few slabs of meet in his bag, which, when you think about it, wasn't the smartest idea. He certainly attracted the attention of all the local dogs, that's for sure.

Prosper left meat around the house, and the dogs found it immediately. Luckily, there were only two.

The dogs fell asleep. Hornet almost had a heart attack when one of them opened a drowsy eye toward her when her and Prosper were moving the latter under Maria's window. The latter was too short. Mosca (since he was the tallest) climbed up it and knocked on the window, gently.

Maria lifted her head. The woman in the bed next to her didn't stir. Maria came to the window and opened it.

An alarm went off inside the house. "Come on," Mosca said. He helped her down from the window. The alarm blaired in the ears. All of them ran away into an alley and were gone before anyone in the house had a chance to do anything.

Scipio, Maria, Prosper, Hornet, Mosca and Riccio ran separate ways to confuse anyone who could be fallowing them before meeting back up at Ida's.

"We're going to have to leave for a while," Scipio told Maria, a half an hour later. Hornet, Prosper, Riccio, Bo, and Mosca were all asleep and warm inside. Scipio and Maria were sitting alone in the garden. "We can't stay here. The police would know where to find us."

"Only for a month or two. Then we could come back."

"Yes. I wonder where we should go?"

"What about Isola Segretta? Renzo and Morosina left, and there's that big house there." She didn't say that they were sure to have moved the merry-go-round, but they both knew it. "Mosca and Riccio could come, too. The house is much nicer than that warehouse they've been living in."

"Sounds good."

They sat in silence for a while, and it was still dark outside. "Hey, Maria?" Scipio said.

"Yeah?"

Scipio kissed her.

From the window Ida and Victor were watching them.

"Finally," Victor said.

"It didn't take him as long to kiss her as it did for Prosper to kiss Hornet," Ida remarked, just as Prosper was coming down the stairs from his room. They couldn't see him, but he could hear them. "Poor Hornet. When is Prosper ever going to get a clue?"

Prosper walked back up the stairs. Ida and Victor heard him go up. "You knew he was there, didn't you?" Victor asked Ida.

"Of course," she replied.

Prosper knocked on Hornet's door. "Prop, I'm tired, can't you let me rest?"

And he kissed her, too.

The next day, after Scipio, Maria,Mosca and Riccio went to Isola Segretta, Dottore Massimo was on his son's bed, reading the letter Scipio left him.

Dear Dottore Massimo,

I won't be coming back. You should have been a better father. Don't try and tell yourself it wasn't your fault. You could have made time in your busy schedule for me. But you ignored me. Apparently I wasn't more important than your work. It's not all you, though. Mom only saw my three or four times a year. Thank-you for feeding me, giving me an education, and giving me a place to live for the last thirteen years. I wish I could thank you for more. Maybe I'll visit you in five years of so. Maybe I won't. I'm sorry to tell you this, but tonight you've lost your son.

Sincerely,

Scipio

As Dottore Massimo read this, he cried. He actually cried. He knew he had messed up his life. When he read the first line, where his own son addressed him as 'Dottore Massimo', it was enough to break his heart. He hadn't loved Scipio until he was gone. If given another chance at fatherhood, he would do a much better job. He wished he could tell Scipio he was sorry.

**Wow. I didn't know this could happen, but I actually feel bad for Dottore Massimo. And I didn't know carrier pigeons wore leggings until yesterday. Okay, one more chapter left, it's (sort of) the epilogue. Also, I might not write another story, it depends on how I feel. Please review this chapter, seeing as the story is almost finished. I have to know what you think. **

**Signed,**

**timetofly116**


	11. Everything After

_Disclaimer- I do not own The Thief Lord._

Everything After

Maria, Mosca, Scipio and Riccio all lived on Isola Segretta until the shock of Scipio and Maria's disappearance died down (again). Then Scipio and Maria went back to the city. Mosca and Riccio, however, decided to stay.

Scipio was back to working behind the scenes for Victor. One day a client came into Victor's office. Victor had posted a going out of business sign on his door. He and Scipio had fallen too far behind on rent payments. They were going to lose the apartment.

"I'm sorry Signora Ricci. We're out of business," Victor replied glumly.

"Let me explain," Carmela Ricci said. "I'm not here because I need your help. Actually I'm here because of Scipio Massimo. I know he's here."

"Of course he isn't, whatever gave you that idea?"

"I saw him when I came here the first time. I knew it was him that time too."

"That was my assistant. He just looks a little like the Massimo boy."

"And he also has the same first name," Carmela said dryly. "Let me explain. I had never seen Scipio in person until I came into your office. But I am, in fact his aunt."

"Then you would have turned him into the police."

"No. I knew my sister and my ex- brother-in-law weren't being good parents. My sister was always traveling and Dottore Massimo was so busy. I had fought with my sister before Scipio was born so I wasn't allowed to see him."

"And now you want to take him so you can raise him."

Carmela laughed. "Of course not, Mr. Getz. I am not in the position to take care of Scipio. Plus he'd hate me. I, too, am busy. I noticed you are going out of business?"

"Yes."

"I am, after all, Scipio's aunt. I should take care of him a little, even if it's only financially. You see, I can't let Scipio be let out on the streets. So I have a proposition for you. What if I pay all the money you are in debt, and in return you start your detective business again and take care of my nephew?"

Victor didn't think it was right to except the money. But when she put it that way… And of course, she had to make sure Scipio was properly taken care of… "Deal," he agreed.

"Excellent."

Scipio and Maria were sitting in Ida's garden. "Did you see the article in the paper?" Maria asked Scipio.

"Yeah. The one where it said that my father was marrying a poor widow with two little kids? Maybe he's finally doing something right with his life."

"That's more than I can say for Carlo. I can't believe he's finally going to prison for stealing money from the government. I didn't even know he did that."

"You should have told the police he beat you while you were still living with him."

"I know. I guess I was just so scared. When he first started hitting me he told me he would kill me if he told. I was so little I didn't know that it was against the law. When I learned I already had so much fear built up. I should have, I know."

"You're safe now."

"I know." Maria smiled. "Ida said I should dye my hair so I can go to school and no one will recognize me."

"Victor said the same thing to me. He thinks I should finish my education. He wants me to get a detective's license."

"I'm sort of embarrassed to admit it, but I'm going to miss my black hair when I dye it. But after a year or so I should be able to dye it back. After all, I'll probably grow up enough by then that no one will recognize me. But then again, who knows what they'll look like when they grow up?"


End file.
